Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s imports of Saudi crude oil increased in Dec. 2023, reaching about 36.28 million barrels, or 44% of total imports, according to the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy that belongs to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. 

During December, Japan imported a total of 82.52 million barrels of oil, of which the Arab share was 91%, or 75.10 million barrels. This was supplied by five Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, as well as the Neutral Zone, according to the data.

Japan imported about 28 million barrels from the UAE, or 33.9% of total imports, in December. Kuwait provided about 6 million barrels (7.2%) and Qatar 3.48 million barrels (4.2%). Japan imported nearly one million barrels (1.2%) from Oman and 0.5% from the Neutral Zone.

With the Japanese ban on importing oil from Iran and Russia continuing in December, the rest of Japan’s oil imports came from the United States of America (5.2%), Central and South America (3.1%), Southeast Asia (0.6%) and Oceania (0.1%).Crude oil generates about a third of Japan’s energy needs.